Wednesday, April 4, 2012

Ordinary topic #2 - Bicycles

In light of my previously stated quest to blog about ordinary things, today's topic is.....bicycles.

It is a beautiful day in Colorado.  The sky is clear, sun shining and the air is sweet as only mountain air can be after a storm.  A perfect day for a bike ride.

I took my bike down from its perch where it has sat since about last October, dusted it off, checked the tires and set out for the bike path.  About twenty minutes into my ride I had a realization.....I was really uncomfortable.  My back ached, my shoulders cramped and my behind - well, you don't want to know the state of my rear end.

I have an old mountain bike.  Manufactured before many modern innovations, it has no shocks, a heavy frame and the most spine jarring saddle ever invented.  It has served me well in the past but now, after a decade, my body needs something more in keeping with its needs.  I no longer need to be crouched down leaning almost all my weight on my arms and shoulders so I can shave a couple of extra minutes off my miles.  I'm into recreational cruising, not head down, round shouldered racing.

My thoughts began to drift off into the past.  What happened to those lovely old bikes my mother and grandmother rode?  You know, the ones with a wide leather saddle supported by bouncy springs, comfortable enough for an hour or so of shopping or cruising and wide enough to support a normal woman's lower curves.  The ones with handlebars that are considerably higher than the seat so that you can sit in a normal sitting position, the best to see the traffic and the view.  The ones that have a cover on the chain so you don't get plastered with dirty oil.  The ones with a wicker basket on the front to carry all essentials.  The ones you can ride wearing a skirt or a pretty summer dress.  Wouldn't that be nice?

I came home with a new determination and a new direction.  Out with the mountain bike and in with a "sit up and beg" variety (as my mother used to call them).  A friend told me they make new "old" bikes so I've been scouring Amazon and Googling like crazy.  Came up with a few possibilities.  If, however, you can point me in the direction of a good website or resource, please let me know.

My back and derriere will thank you!

Monday, April 2, 2012

Profound or ordinary?

It's been a long while since I've blogged here. Why is that? I have lots of good intentions but they never seem to translate into action.

 I just returned from a wonderful 2 day writers conference held by Northern Colorado Writers. I attended many informative and interesting sessions.

Among them was Laurie Macomber's Writing for the Web. Laurie gave us an amazing, almost overwhelming, amount of information about how to write meaningful and useful copy for our websites and also about blogging.

 One thing she said stuck with me. If you are going to blog, it must be almost every day or at a minimum once a week. Whoa!! Wait a minute.....who has time to do that? Then I paused. Why am I balking at doing what I love to do once a day or even a couple of times a week? I love to write so what's up with that?

 I needed to get honest with myself. What exactly is holding me back? Is it plain old procrastination? Not really, I'm usually a "get it done" kind of person. Is it fear? No, I'm not afraid to put my writing or my thoughts out there for all to see. Is it a lack of inspiration or ideas? No, definitely not. I'm overflowing with them. Then what?

 I examined further what happens to me as I go along through the thought process of what to write and I discovered something.....I want to be profound! I want to say something earth shattering, I want to give my readers and Aha! moment, I want what I write to be meaningful and lingering. What a load of b.......t!

Then I had a revelation....Blogs aren't about being profound. Blogs are your ultimate stream of consciousness stuff just arranged better so others aren't left scratching their heads. BLOGS ARE ORDINARY.

That's the thing that was standing in my way. I just couldn't stomach the idea that my writing, and my ideas, might be ordinary. Who wants to be ordinary? We all want to be special don't we?

So now I'm cringing at myself. I need to get real. I need to get down to earth. I need to eat some humble pie. If you are still reading and wondering where this is all going, then you are not alone. So am I. What next for my blog? What next for my writing? And most importantly, what next for my ego?

Watch this space.......